The present invention relates generally to the field of rollers movable across a grassy lawn.
A variety of rollers have been devised for moving across the ground to flatten dirt and obstacles. When a roller is pulled across a grassy lawn, the grass is caused to assume a bent condition and thus, when the roller is pulled in a first direction and then in a second reverse direction, an aesthetic pleasing striped pattern is provided by rows of grass being bent in opposite directions. Typically, lawn care professionals utilize rollers to provide this cosmetic appearance. The rollers are fixedly mounted to relatively large and heavy lawn cutting devices.
A number of U.S. patents have been granted on lawn roller or compacting devices. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,749,305 issued to Brown discloses an earth compactor drum whereas U.S. Pat. No. 4,208,151 issued to Cross discloses a motorized device designed solely for rotating and moving a heavy drum across the lawn. U.S. Pat. No. 4,481,757 issued to Tsuchiya discloses a powered lawn mower having a roller mounted in front of the mower to condition the grass prior to being engaging by the mower blades. A riding type mower designed to mow greens on golf courses and having a roller affixed thereto is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,213 issued to Humphrey. U.S. Pat. No. 4,638,622 issued to Smith and U.S. Pat. No. 5,870,888 issued to Pugh disclose rollers mounted rearwardly to the lawn mower housing.
The prior lawn rollers are characterized in that the roller is designed to fit a specific vehicle or lawn mower and is not readily adaptable to a variety of different sizes of lawn mowers. Most lawns are cut by homeowners who own a variety of different types, shapes and sizes of lawn mowers. What is needed is a roller having a universal mount that may be easily secured and adapted to mount to the variety of different types of lawn mowers. Disclosed herein is a universal mount having a roller attached thereto that includes adjustable means to secure the roller to the lawn mower.
In order to ensure uniform rolling of the grass, it is desirable to limit bouncing of the roller relative to the ground as the roller is pulled across the lawn by the lawn mower. Thus, the universal mount disclosed herein is designed to limit bouncing with the roller moving vertically relative to the ground only when the universal mount arms pivot on the lawn mower housing.
One embodiment of the present invention is the combination of a lawn mower having a frame portion with opposite sides and a roller having a cylindrical main body with opposite ends and sufficient weight to bend grass downwardly to a bent condition after the roller is moved thereacross. A universal mount has a pair of opposed roller mounts rotatably securing the roller thereto. The universal mount further has two forwardly extending arms attached to the opposite sides of the frame portion positioning the roller behind the lawn mower. Fasteners adjustably mounted to the mounts secure the arms in position limiting relative motion between the arms once the arms have been spaced apart on the universal mount to locate the frame portion therebetween.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a universal mount for a lawn roller that is adjustable to mount the roller to a variety of shapes and sizes of lawn mowers.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a lawn mower having a roller mounted thereto that may be easily removed and remounted to a different lawn mower.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a lawn mower roller mounted to the lawn mower in such a manner to limit vertical bouncing of the roller.
Related objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description.